Artifact World Gallery
Get the iOS app

Et sardineri i Concarneau by Peder Severin Krøyer

Peder Severin Krøyer · 1879-01-01

Peder Severin Krøyer's "Et sardineri i Concarneau," painted in 1879, offers a direct look into the bustling sardine canneries of Concarneau, a fishing port on the coast of Brittany, France.

The painting shows women engaged in the meticulous and demanding work of processing sardines. Their focused expressions and the heaps of fish on the table and in baskets reveal the scale and intensity of this vital industry.

Krøyer, a Danish artist known for capturing everyday life, painted this scene during a period when the sardine industry was booming in coastal towns like Concarneau. The work highlights the labor of these women, who were crucial to providing canned fish to markets across Europe.

This painting is now held at the Statens Museum for Kunst, preserving a moment in time from a coastal community's industrious past.

Details

This fishing port was famous for its sardine canneries.
This fishing port was famous for its sardine canneries.
Women worked long hours, gutting and salting fresh catches.
Women worked long hours, gutting and salting fresh catches.
Their swift, practiced hands processed mountains of sardines.
Their swift, practiced hands processed mountains of sardines.
The work was hard, in dimly lit and often wet conditions.
The work was hard, in dimly lit and often wet conditions.
The shimmering scales of the fish create a striking visual texture and highlight the raw material of the workers' efforts.
The shimmering scales of the fish create a striking visual texture and highlight the raw material of the workers' efforts.
Transcript

Concarneau, France, 1879. This fishing port was famous for its sardine canneries. Women worked long hours, gutting and salting fresh catches. Their swift, practiced hands processed mountains of sardines. The work was hard, in dimly lit and often wet conditions. It was a vital industry, feeding Europe's growing cities.